Zwarte Bron’s second commercially available beer, this time brewed in the microbrewery in Sint-Pauwels (north of Sint-Niklaas) itself; there is still a link to the past, when the brewer made up one half of the Weerspannige Brouwers, namely that this is apparently an improved version of the Speed IPA made by the Weerspannige back in 2016. Hopped with Cascade (and Cascade only) and fermented with a clean Anglo-Saxon yeast strain, this beer is deliberately intended as a basic American style IPA and not the kind of ‘Belgian compromise’ IPAs you see so often in this country nowadays. Egg-white, mousy, medium thick, slowly opening but well-retaining head on a hazy apricot blonde beer with deeper ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of ripe mandarin and orange juice, orange cake, papaja, pink peppercorns, olive oil, lime zest, dry white bread, mango jam, sweating abbey cheese and a faint dash of dankness (diesel). Fruity onset in a clean way, orange-zesty with side notes of ripe peach and melon, softish carb still adding something minerally, smooth and supple body (actually feeling a bit lighter than its ABV would suggest); slender biscuity maltiness with a bready core, aromatized by indeed fresh, bright but gentle and ‘noble’ old Cascade, pure orange juice and orange flesh mixed with some papaja- and lychee-like background accents but not becoming overly tropical. The hops provide a nicely finishing, but altogether fairly gentle bitterness as well. Easily drinkable, to the point, better balanced and more bright than the Speed IPA by Weerspannige back at the time, an ‘international’ IPA indeed – nodding to both the West Coast origins of modern American IPA and the current haze craze, but leaning closer to the first than to the second. Recommended, but make sure to get it fresh.

14/II/21 - 33cl bottle from De Hopduvel (Gent), shared @ home, BB: 23/X/22 (2021-128)

Clear orange blond beer, big solid creamy white head, stable, bit adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: very malty, sweet grains, little fruity, some banana, a little floral. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: pretty bitter start, grassy, bit floral, quite chemical, very dry. Aftertaste: very bitter, dry, floral, slightly soapy, floral, little fruity, yeast, character, bit spicy, good bitter Belgian Blond, but not an IPA at all.

The first official beer from De Zwarte Bron, a new microbrewery in Sint-Pauwels, partially risen from the ashes of De Weerspannige Brouwers; like Weerspannige, Zwarte Bron is an actual brewery, not a 'bierfirma', and even if this first batch was brewed at BeerSelect in Ghent, next batches will likely be brewed at the brewery's own premises in Sint-Pauwels near Sint-Niklaas, next to a completely independent and promising series of other, 'really' new beers. This one indeed is not literally 'new': it uses the recipe of the former Weerspannige version, but since it is now made by Zwarte Bron situated in another location, I think it deserves a new entry, separate from the original one that was discontinued when Weerspannige ceased their activities several years ago. This 'resurrected' version shows a medium thick, lightly lacing, pale greyish off-white, mousy, small-bubbled head that slowly opens and dissipates over an initially clear, deep bronze-brown beer with wine red glow, turning misty with the sediment added. Aroma of caramel candy, candi sugar, raisins, candied dates, ruby port, 'sirop de Liège', dry brown bread crust (even lightly toasted), honey-glazed roasted pear, banana, nougat, hints of ground hazelnuts, dried bitter herbs (wormwood), old 'jenever', vague notes of nutmeg, chewing gum, minerals, dry clay and autumn leaves. Fruity, sweet onset, banana ester mingled with impressions of ripe pear, fresh fig, red apple and nectarine, softish carbonation, full and smooth body; slick caramelly and brown-bready malt body, quite lean and feeling a tad lighter than its ABV, honeyish residual sugariness on top but not to the point where it becomes cloying - on the contrary, the finish counters this overall, mouth-filling sweetness with a firm dose of bitterness, coming from a late toasty malt bitter aspect, a leafy and eventually quite rooty, even slightly quinine-tinged hop bitterness and warming, even somewhat heating and peppery, 'jenever'-like alcohol - which, however very noticeable, remains in position without disrupting the other flavours too much. A warming, soothing glow indeed remains for a brief while after swallowing, coloured by this play of early sweetness and late bitterness, while a 'dark sweet', almost candy-like fruitiness lingers retronasally. Streamlined, technically flawless and dangerously 'drinkable', this is a very decent quadrupel indeed, with a classically 'Belgian' profile reminiscent of the great names in the genre (think Chimay Bleu, Rochefort 8, Sint-Bernardus Abt 12 and the like) - in fact it would probably make an unexpectedly great performance in a blind tasting of such classic quads. As for comparison with the original one, which I had at different occasions and at different ages: this one is noticeable different, it seems more bitter and a tad less 'syrupy' and sweet, perhaps feeling a tad smoother and sleeker too with just a little bit less complexity, but it more or less conveys the general 'feel' of the original one (even if people who did have the original one at more than one occasion, will certainly note the differences). A very solid 're-start', so to speak, but the great strength of this new brewery will soon be revealed in more ambitiously profiled beers, so I sure recommend keeping an eye on this. I definitely will.